In the pathogenesis of breast cancer, tumor-associated macrophages have the capacity to impinge upon clinical outcomes. In light of this, reconciling mechanisms by which macrophages are primed to facilitate tumor growth and progression provide clinically relevant therapeutic targets. Given the recent linkage between activation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and breast cancer ...

BACKGROUND Macrophages promote tumor growth by stimulating tumor-associated angiogenesis, cancer-cell invasion, migration, intravasation, and suppression of antitumor immune responses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten transgenic nude mice, ubiquitously expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), were injected subcutaneously with the human pancreatic cancer cell line, BXPC3, stably expressing red flu...

Tumor-associated macrophages play a central role in tumor progression and metastasis. Macrophages can also promote the resistance of malignant cells to chemotherapy by stimulating the upregulation of cytidine deaminase, an intracellular enzyme that catabolizes the active form of gemcitabine. Targeting macrophage-dependent chemoresistance may reduce tumor-associated morbidity and mortality.

Although the presence of macrophages in tumors has been correlated with poor prognosis, until now there was no direct observation of how macrophages are involved in hematogenous metastasis. In this study, we use multiphoton microscopy to show, for the first time, that tumor cell intravasation occurs in association with perivascular macrophages in mammary tumors. Furthermore, we show that periva...

Induction of apoptosis is one of the main defenses of the body against cells that have acquired malicious mutations. It may seem counter-intuitive then, that massive cell death is observed in many malignant tumors (1, 2). Despite high rates of apoptosis, these tumors continue to grow rapidly. Thus, tumor cell growth must outbalance tumor cell death. Intuitively presumed only to inhibit tumor gr...